Chad welcomes you to encounter endless horizons of sandy stretches with exhilarating game drives, night drives and walking safaris. Step into this country and explore the fascinating deserts, wetlands, savannahs, the delta and wildlife-packed game reserves of one of the wildest regions in Africa. A journey to Chad enables you to see magnificent African wilderness and exotic lifestyle at close, yet safe range. Chad is a landlocked country that sprawls over 1,284,000 square kilometres (496,000 sq. mi.) in north central Africa. With the northern desert region of the country resting over majority of the landscape of Chad, the country is often referred to as the 'dead heart of Africa.' Though only 3% of the Chadian land is arable, it is home to Lake Chad, one time largest water body of Africa. The terrain reaches highest elevations at the Tibesti massif in the north of Chad.
The Islamic wave touched regions of Chad in 1085 when it was ruled by three separate empires of Kanem-Bornu, Baguirmi and Ouaddai. After Sudanese invasion, the French occupied the region and absorbed these kingdoms into the colony of French Equatorial Africa in 1913. Around 1946, Chad became an autonomous republic within the French Community and fierce independence struggle brought sovereignty to the country on August 11, 1960. Two decades later, Chad also fought out Libyan attempt of invasion.